By Before he became a thoracic surgeon in Denver, Dr. Pius Kamau was a boy in colonial Kenya chasing knowledge like his life depended on it—because it did. In ‘Running with Lions’, he retraces the perilous, breathtaking journey that carried him from Mau Mau‑era villages to European lecture halls and, eventually, to the operating rooms of Colorado. His journey is proof that education is both power and freedom. And his life is a reminder that resilience is truly a lifeline.
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When I sat down with Dr. Pius Kamau, Denver’s own Kenyan‑born thoracic surgeon and longtime newspaper contributor, I quickly realized that his story isn’t just about medicine; it’s about survival, courage, and the relentless pursuit of knowledge. His newly released memoir, Running with Lions, roars with the same energy that shaped his life: the hunger to learn, to rise, and to belong.
Dr. Kamau told me there was never a single lightning‑bolt moment that pushed him to write his memoir. Instead, it was a slow burn—a progression of reflections gathered over decades. “I had been drafting different versions for more than twenty years,” he said. “When COVID came, I finally had the time to clean up my manuscript and get professional help.” The pandemic’s stillness gave him space to revisit the journey that began in colonial Kenya, where education was both a dream and a weapon against poverty and oppression.
Asked what his single “burning truth” was, he said it was education as liberation. Growing up under British rule, Kamau saw firsthand how knowledge separated the colonizers from the colonized. “Poverty equals ignorance,” he told me. “Education equals enlightenment.” His memoir traces that pursuit—from a boy determined to learn, to a man who walked to Sudan seeking schooling, to a student who earned a scholarship in Nairobi and later studied medicine in Spain. Each chapter is a testament to resilience and the belief that learning could rewrite destiny.
But Running with Lions isn’t just about books and classrooms. It’s about grit. Kamau recounts surviving a horrific car accident that left him severely burned and nearly ended his dream of becoming a surgeon. “It was painful to write about,” he admitted. “I watched my hand contract, and I thought my dream was over.” Yet, a compassionate English plastic surgeon restored not only his hand but his hope. “He told me, ‘Your hand will do what your mind tells it to do.’ That changed everything.”
The memoir’s title captures the spirit of his life: facing danger head‑on, whether it was a literal leopard in the forest or the metaphorical lions of colonialism, racism, and hardship. Kamau’s journey from a dirt‑poor Kenyan village to a respected physician in Denver is a story of endurance and transformation. “I want readers, especially African immigrants, to know there’s always hope,” he said. “Work hard, stay honest, and never give up. Find your fertile ground and grow.”
In revisiting his past, Kamau says he’s learned to appreciate himself more. “I like myself better now,” he smiled. “I understand why I do the things I do.”
His memoir is both a recollection and a mirror reflecting the power of resilience, intellect, and belonging.
Running with Lions reminds us that courage knows no color, and education, whether pursued in Kenya, Spain, or America, remains the most powerful roar of all.
